The Efficacy of Hypnotic Analgesic Suggestions in Chronic Nociplastic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This blinded study evaluated the relative efficacy of three hypnosis sessions in 60 patients with chronic nociplastic pain allocated randomly to one of two conditions: hypnosis with analgesic suggestions, or hypnosis with nonspecific suggestions. Pain intensity, pain quality, and pain interference as outcome measures were assessed before and after treatment. A mixed-design analysis of the variance model showed no significant differences between groups. According to the adjusted model, large effect size improvements in pain intensity and pain quality emerged for both conditions but were only meaningful for patients not taking pain medications. Analgesic suggestions may not play a primary role in beneficial outcomes of hypnosis at the beginning of chronic pain management since both interventions demonstrated similar positive effects. Future studies should investigate the efficacy of the hypnosis components over longer treatment periods.